Parkland commissioner wants drywall task force

PARKLAND — Complaints that a type of Chinese drywall used in post-2003 housing is seeping sulfuric acid and triggering asthma have drawn the attention of state and federal regulators.

But Parkland Commissioner Jared Moskowitz doesn't want to wait to see what they come up with. On Wednesday he will ask the commission to create an emergency task force to determine how significant a problem the city has. He said there have been about a half-dozen complaints in the city, from Parkland Estates and the Banyan Isles section of Heron Bay.

The housing boom sent developers to foreign sources of construction material, Moskowitz said, and it's possible the drywall contains sulfuric acid that is putting holes in walls and tarnishing light fixtures and jewelry.

"Those are the least of the concerns they are creating," he said. "It's an unlivable environment because the air is becoming potentially unlivable. There are reports it creates asthmatic concerns."

State health officials said Thursday that teams will be dispatched to South Florida to study specific houses where there have been complaints. They say they have no answers yet.

"We're at the preliminary stages of testing," said Doc Kokol, spokesman for the state health department. "We have found out corrosion on copper pipes taken from an air-conditioning coil in an affected home is due to sulfide gases, and knowing that is important."

Moskowitz said the task force he wants to create should have at least a planning and zoning expert and a building inspector.

"I want them to tell us the scope of the problem. Is it one house, five houses, a whole neighborhood?" he said. "And I want to know what stage these houses are in. Is it all the drywall? What is the damage? And is there a health hazard? And depending on the scope, can the city provide financial assistance?

"We can't determine that until we know the scope and severity of the issue."

For information, go to www.doh.state.fl.us and click on the link below to "Imported Drywall."

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008.